Some cryptocurrencies have always been fairly volatile, with values soaring or plunging within a short space of time. So for the more cautious investor, “stablecoins” were considered the sensible place to go.
As the name implies, they are designed to be a steadier and safer bet. At the moment though, that stability is proving hard to find.
The value of one of the most popular stablecoins, Terra (also known as UST), has fluctuated wildly in the last few days, before dropping dramatically – and is yet to recover.
Before the crash, Terra was in the top 10 cryptoassets, with a value of over US$18.7 billion. At the time of writing, this had collapsed to less than US$7 billion.